Impact Transfer: Isaiah Bess – Shelby HS (2020)
Isaiah Bess was quietly one of the more productive freshman guards in the state last season. Despite being a focal point of most defenses, he still found ways to get open for his outside shot and consistently got to the rim for Burns HS. He averaged approximately 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists as a freshman, with one of his most notable performances being a 23 point outing against East Burke.
Now that he is at Shelby HS, expect to hear much more about him once basketball season rolls around. He has a solid frame at around 6’4” and plenty of room to continue growing. His bread and butter is his ability to get easy buckets, especially outside jump-shots. If he’s left open, you can comfortably begin to tally 3 points in the scorebook.
Defensively, he has many good tools to become a very tough defender. Has a body that could enable him to guard multiple positions comfortably. Does a solid job rebounding for his position as well. He’s very active in zone defenses and does a great job of reading passing lanes. Also an excellent finisher on the break.
He spent some time this summer competing with Shelby Heat and routinely put up double-double stat-lines and flirted with a few triple-double outings as well. He should be a nice addition to a team who will be looking for more scoring production after graduating a 20+ per game scorer in 2017 Lees-McRae commit Quay Kimble.